A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

April 15, 2008

Oh, my, how the tables have turned, and it appears the REIC-backlash is in full bloom.

Probably the biggest reason for not hiring anyone with "realtor", "mortgage broker" or "appraiser" on their resume is that you don't know how long they'll be able to work until the FBI comes in and arrests them.

Plus you'd always be worried about them stealing the office supplies. Or running some kind of con game on their lunch hour.So what will become of the hundreds of thousands of REIC who lose their jobs? Back to bartending, stripping, used car sales and drug dealing I'd expect.As lending industry crashes, thousands seek jobs elsewhere

The subprime home-loan rush is history.

But its impact on the state's work force is just beginning to play out as tens of thousands of real estate, finance and construction workers are left looking for work after a number of heady years.

Like a lot of mortgage industry workers, Stush, 55, tried to get work in other kinds of financial services such as insurance, but he found a huge stigma attached to the mortgage industry that disqualified him from even being considered for many jobs.

"It's unjust. If you were in the mortgage industry for a long time ... employers think you're used to making so much money that you're not going to take $50,000 or $70,000 a year. ... They also think (mortgage lenders) are all money-hungry pigs, but it's not true. Employers are missing out on some really outstanding employees."

It's not uncommon to see disclaimers on Internet job postings that say: "NO REAL ESTATE OR MORTGAGE CANDIDATES PLEASE."

Well, it should really be no problem since I know these guys, with all of those big commission checks having come in... must have a nice fat savings account socked away for a rainy day. All these knowledgable mortage/financial advisors surely paid themselves first- same as they wisely advised their clients. I'm sure all the clever and hard working realestaters and brokers will ride this out just fine and show all of us whiners a thing or two.

"Stush, the former Fieldstone vice president, sees a bright future in reverse mortgages - as "house rich, cash poor" seniors begin retiring - and government loans, poised to play a much bigger role in home financing going forward. "Reverse mortgages are going to be huge, so I figure if you break in now, you'll be set. I can't sit around waiting."

NOW THAT THESE FOLKS ARE DONE WORKING OVER THE MINORITIES, THEY'RE GONNA CONCENTRATE EXCLUSIVELY ON THE BOOMERS BACKED BY GOVERNMENT LOANS...

I'm sure if they just asked their many, many satisfied clients for a personal reference....since none of them ever steered someone into a loan they couldn't handle.....they'd have so many that they'd have to add five pages to their resumes.

Some of us appraisers are honest and have been starving for a long time. We did not make the stupid/false numbers for brokers or banks and are waiting this out until our services are wanted in the market. Pleas give the honest guy a break......Don't lump us in with the trash.

The demise of the Mortgage Personnel is like a plauge. There are a lot of people who abused the system and now we all have to pay the price. It requires change profession or be part of hostile takeover by Retail Banking.

The new term WCC for those who do not know is white collar crime. If, you gulity its a matter of time before the FBI knocks on your door.

yeh keith, they come from jobs where they at the very least operated in a grey area of deceit and lies and performed their jobs ripping people off and stretching the truth. they were bordering on outright criminality during those days. so now they are laid off and are looking for work and nobody wants them. who would have thunk it????? ha ha ha.......

Torri Shack, 29, left the mortgage business in 2007 to become a personal trainer. After five years making lots of money, she ended up declaring bankruptcy for her business, but she says she is much happier now. Entrepreneurial at heart, she is launching a new dog boot-camp venture, a workout program for dogs and their owners.

Just wondering what this financial genius was doing with all that money to end up bankrupt a few years later. Here we find yet another genius who was giving financial advice to buyers making the biggest financial decision of their lives.

"Entrepreneurial" for this kind of people means, "I jumped from one ponzi scheme to another to pray on fools".

That really sucks. I wonder how many of these guys are homeowners with families to support that are going to have to 'walk away' or go into foreclosure because they can't find a job. WAMU laid off 3000 in addition to the tens of thousands from other lenders. Not to mention the multitudes of non w-2 workers who can't rely on unemployment. This will surely contribute to more price deflation and accelerate this downturn.

You ain't seen nothing buddy!! Wait until the million jobless realtwhores, mortgage brokers, home appraisers, landscapers.. start selling their own homes to buy food!It's not going to be pretty in the second half, and Yun is dead wrong, as usual!

Now these hacks are going to prey on seniors with these reverse mortgages. Just like ARMs and subprime, these hacks will monkey around with the assumptions. In this case, they will lower the life expectancy to make the numbers work. But what if these seniors live beyond those assumptions? They will be screwed with no way of making a living.

This loser whines, "..employers think you're used to making so much money that you're not going to take $50,000 or $70,000 a year"-------------------------What a shame that this poor, poor soul may have so settle for such a pittance - NOT!

What - you mean that you didn't save anything during those years when you were making a six-figure salary?

Don't you remember that Aesop's Fable about the Grasshopper and the Ant?

This loser whines, "..employers think you're used to making so much money that you're not going to take $50,000 or $70,000 a year"-------------------------What a shame that this poor, poor soul may have so settle for such a pittance - NOT!

What - you mean that you didn't save anything during those years when you were making a six-figure salary?

Don't you remember that Aesop's Fable about the Grasshopper and the Ant?

What employer wants to go to the trouble of hiring someone that may be taken away at any minute by the FBI?

After 8 months of looking for work, ex-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales can't find a job either. The other thing that he has in common with mortgage brokers is that he's still under investigation too.

Most are licensed and have been trained in ethics and serving the public. Most mortgage originators that are not licensed are not investigated and can have a criminal record. So, they should have some additional preference for those that are licensed. There is one heck of a job pool for a smart employer that is looking for really good people looking for work.

Buddy, I know you bitter. But as an appraiser, I've never been as busy as I am right now. I don't know who your talking too. Maybe a croatian, stop talking about REIC from europe, come home my son and get the real dope. Your lost.

Now these hacks are going to prey on seniors with these reverse mortgages. Just like ARMs and subprime, these hacks will monkey around with the assumptions. In this case, they will lower the life expectancy to make the numbers work. But what if these seniors live beyond those assumptions? They will be screwed with no way of making a living.

Some of us appraisers are honest and have been starving for a long time. We did not make the stupid/false numbers for brokers or banks and are waiting this out until our services are wanted in the market. Pleas give the honest guy a break......Don't lump us in with the trash.

You should have kicked the trash out of your profession or reported them to the authorities. Now you have been stained with their shit.

You think YOU GUYS are mad. I'm more mad than you could ever be. I earned a 4 year degree in Upstate NY and then moved to Florida to start a new life. No one would hire me except a mortgage broker. This was 1998. So I ran with it. Hated the business almost immediately so I went back to a university and got my masters degree. In my biggest year, I only earned $58K. This was because I refused to rip people off. After 2 years, I went self employed because I was getting tons of referrals. Then all of a sudden, it went away, almost overnight. Why? Because all of my would be referrals, now had a brother, friend, uncle, etc. that was a mortgage broker. Yeah, so. If I wanted to buy a new car and my friend just started a new business building cars, I still wouldn't buy from him. People never understood the importance of home buying. I did everything right. Got a great degree, saved money, never paid a bill late and then everything goes to crap because Florida lets every Tom Dick and Harry be a mortgage broker. In what other business can you work under SOMEONE ELSES license??? Fortunately, I did everything smart. No financial issues or anything like that. Got a new job at T. Rowe Price. So why am I mad? I'm mad because I am stuck with this stupid stigma. I HATE telling people what I used to do. But honestly, I am so freakin glad. When I would make a $3000 fee and drop $2000 at the drop of a hat to get the deal done, I did it. Realtors would make a $15,000 fee for doing nothing and they would never drop a penny. I would tell people that their closing costs are going to be $9000 and they would say that some other joe blow said told them $4500. I would say how?? I'm not charging you anything. You're being lied to! All of these scumbags and scammers that ruined this industry and gave me this stigma can rot for all I care. I was a master of finance making $50,000 and I would see guys with GED's making 6 figures, because they would actually have the nerve to make $10,000 on a loan. Just because you can sell it, doesn't mean you should charge it. These people made me sick and I am sooooooo happy that this is happening. The strong will survive. I love the complaints to from these people. I say the same thing to all of them. BE THANKFUL YOU WERE ABLE TO MAKE WHITE COLLAR MONEY WITH BLUE COLLAR INCOME, at least for a short while. One more thing. Was at the grocery store this weekend and saw a yellow hummer all "sticker'd up" with some realty company info. Seeing that makes life worth it again. Go Exxon!

Well, it should really be no problem since I know these guys, with all of those big commission checks having come in... must have a nice fat savings account socked away for a rainy day.

Mammoth said . . .

What - you mean that you didn't save anything during those years when you were making a six-figure salary?

--------------------------------I talked to a CPA on Sunday who just finished the 2007 personal returns for two different mortgage brokers.

He told me that in 2006, one of them made over $300k, but in 2007, she make *only* $180k, and she's "sucking wind." The other one is almost as bad off. Apparenlty, neither of them have any cash cushion.

Now, how can you have so many personal expenses that $180k in one year is not going to cut it? And how can you possibly manage to blow an entire $300k (more like $150k after taxes) and not restrain your material lust enough to sock away a mere $20k or $30k of it for a rainly day?

u dumb as_ borrowers all knew what u got urselves into when u took out your loans thinking the values would appreciate and make a profit. don't blame it on the realtwhores, mortgage brokers or appraisers....you r to blamer also and you deserve to lose your home!

Funny how many of you that leave your comments on this article likely got a mortgage through a broker or lender. Funny how many of you really can't afford the loans that you now have b/c you are trying to "keep up with the Jones'". Funny how YOU signed (though likely "forgot" to read)the papers that gave you the loan in the first place. I don't feel bad for most people who end up in foreclosure....for most its their own darn fault. Sure some brokers/lenders are less than ethical people, but at the end of the day, its Americans own inability to "live within their means" that has brought our economy to its knees. Shame on you for blaming others, when everyone has skin in the game. You are fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

We moved from LA area in 2000.My so-called friend became a RE agent in 2003. Made 200K on starter home and moved into a McMansion in 2004. This friend kept telling me that I missed out on making a half mil on my 1800 SQ FT home, but for me getting my teens out of California was more important to me...TODAY this agent has not sold a home in 5 months and they also pulled out 150K for luxury items and are strugling to make the 5500K plus monthly mortgage without her massive income...Careful what you wish for...

One of the funniest things this past year for this nutter has been reading the humorous use of o'. Not sure why, but I literally laugh out loud every time I see it used in the context of the housing bust. In Sedona, there is a subdivision named Back o' Beyond. Back o' Beyonce....now that would be interesting.

This is becoming more of a trend in the land of the Americano, AKA the Land of the Snapper Turtle & The Land of the Skunk.

Crude oil is pusing $114.00 a barrel.

House costs a cool 1 million dollars in the CA Bay Area for a chicken shack of 3 bed, 2 bath rooms.

What is this damn nation is coming down to -OR- where is it trying to go to ?

----

What will it take to restore the Americano nation AKA the land of the Snapper Turtle to its former prosperity and security ?

Probably not in Dubya's lifetime.

The correction will have to be severe and painful. Joe6Pack + JaneZinfandel will have to lose at least 100 pounds each in their filthy bodily fat, retrain in their piggy food consumption habit and practice restraint in their hog-fun reproductive orgy. Can it be done ? Yes, but bitterly and painfully the exercise will be.

And if there is even little shred of Dubya's worshipping residing in Joe6Pack's + JaneZinfandel's donkey brain, then all bets are off.

Why ? The simple equation next will prove that the Americano is as toasted as a snapper turtle skewered on a green Chinese bamboo stick, sizzling nicely, fat popping, juices smokeing, dripping aromatically on a bed of red hot charcoal, as long as Dubya is still sitting in the John's Throne.

BUSHY = Real-Public-Cuunnt !

So, are we roasted yet ? Is it done nicely already ? How will the Americano survive with an Escalade and $5.00/gallon gasoline price ? How is the Hicks family coming along ? How is uncle Cracker Nuthead doing out there up in HillBilly's land with the sheeps and the goats ?

I've never in my life read such ugliness from people. I've been I Mortgage Broker in California for the past 20 years and can sleep at night, take pride in that I didn't cheat anyone (or minoities), I'm not a pig and I'm definitely not on my way to jail.

You're the same people that were waiting in line for us to help you purchase homes and refinance. Now it's all our fault?

I'm still helping people purchase homes. You resent me because I made money. Why does our society resent success?

Be careful how much you gloat and laugh and delight in people losing their jobs, and any ability to make a good living, because guess what?? YOUR taxes will be going to support them in the future, and if you think that the economy isn't going to effect other sectors and industries now, you are crazy as a shytt house ratt--They are going to start falling like dominos....

Some of us appraisers are honest and have been starving for a long time. We did not make the stupid/false numbers for brokers or banks and are waiting this out until our services are wanted in the market. Pleas give the honest guy a break......Don't lump us in with the trash.

This falls into the "98% of lawyers give the rest a bad name" category. Sorry, guilty by association. That's the breaks.

Most people are not evil. Many people are capable of greed, however. Just what, pray tell, does it take to get people to recognize a bubble when it is inflating out of control? Clue # 1 - it is NEVER different this time! And this literally on the heels of the tech bubble in stocks. Those who vastly overpaid for houses are also part of the problem. Bubbles alway leave someone holding the bag and suffering huge losses. Clue #2 - homes on both coasts are still overpriced when you can buy nice homes in many parts of the country for $100 per square foot. And yes, some of those places have competitive salaries and plenty of jobs. Clue # 3 - about investing, sell whatever you have when everyone else wants to buy, and buy whatever no one else wants to touch again after getting burned. Stocks are looking better. Houses at the right price look good. Gold is looking like trouble brewing. I overheard a waitress bragging about buying some recently. Not a good sign.

Here in Phoenix there are plenty of TV ads for start your own home business and get rich quick. Or, they could sell crap on e-bay that you can buy cheaper in local stores. There's seems to be a large group of people out there who seem to think if its on e-bay, it must be a bargain.

The REIC scum can always work in the war zones. Good luck to those going for another tour! Not so prestigious gig now, eh?

State Department warns diplomats of compulsory Iraq duty

(AP) -- The State Department is warning U.S. diplomats they may be forced to serve in Iraq next year and says it will soon start identifying prime candidates for jobs at the Baghdad embassy and outlying provinces.

A similar call-up notice last year caused an uproar among foreign service officers, some of whom objected to compulsory work in a war zone, although in the end the State Department found enough volunteers to fill the jobs.

I am an attorney. I made a lot of money off of friends wifes/husbands getting killed, etc. Always worked for near free, but made a lot of $. Went insane w/drug problem lost my wife, homeless many years, bad. Got law license back. Can tell u 10 lawyers beat 1 million clients. You are a piece of sh*t. Shut your mouth. 90% of lawyers are good, honest people. You jelous pieces of sh*t make it other.

"The simple equation next will prove that the Americano is as toasted as a snapper turtle skewered on a green Chinese bamboo stick, sizzling nicely, fat popping, juices smokeing, dripping aromatically on a bed of red hot charcoal, as long as Dubya is still sitting in the John's Throne."

That made me really hungry. Thankfully I'm going to an amazing steakhouse tonight with a wealthy oil man from Texas.

"Go beat off.

Sincerely,

Greg Waugh Attorney at Law."

One of our good friends was forced to relocate out of Arizona when the Scottsdale law firm she worked for went belly-up.

The idea that lawyers have guaranteed security is a myth, especially now. There are just too damned many of you ... oversaturation.

I must be missing something.. I have two close friends both of whom were ex mortgage brokers. One was only unemployed for 2 months after being laid off from a fortune 500 bank. He got offered two higher paying banking jobs and is now working for another fortune 500 bank.. The other friend had to settle for a slightly lower paying gig in a new industry but still found reasonable employment fairly quickly.. Maybe it’s a location thing or a age discrimination thing as both my friends are relatively young and retainable.

Anon 10:41 - Right on! I would add Clue # 4 - If it seems too good to be true, it is. If there were a sure-fire way to get rich quick it would have been discovered centuries ago and everyone would be rich today, without working.

Oh yeah, we can see that Bush and Cheney are paying lots of karma. Cheney just got a clean bill of health and bought a mansion in Dubai. Made 3 million last year, according to his taxes. Karl Rove is doing better than never.

Now you can go back to your meditation with your obese elephant man. ahuuummmmmm...

I can understand not wanting to hire anyone above management level in the real estate or home lending industry, but I see no reason to discriminate against those below executive level who did not call the shots.

real estate agents puff like any other type of sales person, it's just that realtors have an association that makes them out to be more.

A long time ago (1970's) when I was into real estate gambling I learned 1) construction/real estate is a field you can make a lot of money in, but don't need more than a HS degree. Second, a tiney minority people in Real Estate (the dmart ones) learned to save for the rainy day since RE is so cyclical. Third, real estate is mostly unregulated. Average for- profit businesses want educated, prudent and rule driven employees, the antithesis of what I described. No surprise to me.

For the record, the majority of those on the mortgage business are the working middle-class making ends meet. They did not MAKE THE 6-FIGURE SALARIES or even the 5-figures above $50,000. The folks responsible for this debacle are the folks getting coffee with hummers in the parking lot, complaining and probably total to about 10% of those in the mtg industry. The true victims worked in the ops centers and can't AFFORD the coffee run since being laid off. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BEFORE MAKING COMMENTS. There are truly talented individuals being labeled as mortgage bankers that had NOTHING to do with this mortgage mess. This is the mass majority that has been hit the hardest and being unfairly tagged as a mtg banker.

What it smells like from here is Hate-o-rade is bein poured up for most of you. You're clearly bitter that people in the biz made some money. I won't dispute that some were unscrupulous and plenty were fellating the subprime money-tool. Some of us have been honest, straight-shooters all along. That's why some of us are still in the biz, with zero marketing budget, getting by on nothing but referrals and repeat business.

It's too bad so many of you jumped at the chance to buy a home you could never hope to afford (because your brother, coworker, friend, etc just bought one) unless you used easy credit and loans that allowed unrealistic payments. Now you blame the people who gave you what YOU wanted. Do you accept every offer of credit that's dangled in your face? You people sound like the types who call for loans from those Gary Coleman commercials. Just because credit is being offered to you, doesn't mean it's a wise choice for you. Oh and by the way, THAT'S YOUR JOB TO DETERMINE FOR YOURSELF. Just like if you're a typical fat American from eating at Mcdonalds every day, YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH, it's not the person at the drive-thru's job to tell you, "sir, we've determined that you're too fat already, and we are reserving the right to refuse service to you, please go to the Subway across the street". Now it's our fault because YOU had to keep up with the Jones' and got in over your head. Where's the self-responsibility anymore?

Seriously, grow up kiddies.

And to the person who said mortgage professionals have no skills... if you're so skilled, why are you unable to maintain YOUR mortgage payments? How's the rental market workin out for you, kiddo?

This is a really humorous thread. Most lenders and brokers are honest people. No doubt there were some scum bag lenders and scum bag brokers and scum bag realtors. That all said, where were the Bank Regulators when the WAMUs' and InterFirsts', BOA, Wachovia, etc, were making thousand upon thousand of Option Arm loans? This loan was not sold by subprime lenders. Option Arms are far and away the worst loan out there and the banks where the biggest pushers of these loans.

Let's face it, the average American, most of you on this thread, is not smart enough to understand an option arm and would rarely, if ever, have a need for an option arm. Yet, many took those our because they could live in the house of their dreams, albeit temporarily. Oh yeah, don't tell me the bad news, I am too giddy that I can buy this house that I can't afford for more than 3 years.

If people actually knew how to balance a check book, they might be able to avoid these types of mistakes.

As an AE, I can tell you that like loan officers, there were plenty of smart ones and plenty of dumb ones. It's always a bad idea when you mix a dumb borrower into that equation. If you throw a crafty realtor into that mix then you have a near guaranteed disaster.

OMG this line made me piss myself laughing- "financial services such as insurance companies don't want REIC people".1. When did INSURANCE companies get to be "financial " service companies? What a joke!2. INSURANCE agents (and coompanies) are cut from the same cloth as the REIC. Maybe, no definately, they are worse.Insurance companies the ULTIMATE scamers-they're the ones truly in the pockets of our lawmakers.They have colluded with politicians to make it illegal NOT to have insurance and then they jack up the rates to the moon. They base your rates on your credit score...maybe HP should have a thread about how the insurance companies are going to benefit from all these FB's whose credit scores are tanked but they HAVE to have insurance, so the insurance companies get to gouge them and make MORE money. If you have a claim though, try to get a penny from them. Makes me want to vomit. Insurance companies don't want to hire REIC...I'm peeing myself. THAT'S hysterical.

First of all, I want to thank you all for letting me know that as a laid-off mortgage professional, there will be times when my resume will go straight to the trash due to my past work history. Now I know what challenges lay ahead for me.

Second of all, I will acknowledge that there ARE some dirty mortgage industry workers/brokers out there who DO deserve to lose their jobs.

However . . .

. . .before I first got into the mortgage industry, I was a 23 year-old part-time student making $9.50 an hour. I saw an ad for a Job Fair recruiting mortgage loan processors (no exp necessary!!!). I had an interview, and thanks to my ability to sell myself, was offered the job which promised me a salary of 4 times what I was currently making.

Mind you, I am a single struggling female with no children (thank God) that has been working full time hours since the age of 15. The day I was offered the job, I had not eaten for a day and a half because I had run out of money to buy food. I’m sure that 90% of you all would have taken the job if you were me, given the circumstances.

The job involved EXTREMELY long work hours, and there was a few times when I would fall asleep at my desk at 2am, only to wake up and find my coworkers signing in to their computers to start their work day. So unfortunately, I had to put my schooling on hold so that I could make a living for myself.

I found this job to be extremely taxing, and YES, I was expected to push EVERY loan through my pipeline. I was later let go due to the fact that I was kicking loans out of my pipeline that would need “special consideration” to get funded. Frankly, I refused to process loans that I considered to be unethical.

After this, I tried to find good paying employment in another industry, with NO success. So I had no choice but to get back into the mortgage industry.

In 2005, I ended up taking a job as a Documentation Specialist at a well-known mortgage company that paid enough for me to be able to support myself (I was making less than 50K/year, not what most people would consider to be wealthy) At this job, I was responsible for making sure that the loan was LEGAL and the borrowers were not being overcharged/scammed before I sent out the signing documents.

There were sooooo many occasions that I would have to fight with loan officers/account managers/loan processors in order to make sure the borrowers’ loan was in compliance with state regulations and/or making sure the borrowers weren’t being swindled. A short while later, working 60 hours/week, my knowledge, expertise, and STRONG MORAL STANCE actually won me a promotion.

But I lost my job late last year due to a company closure. I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m not getting ANY calls whenever I send out my resume, and reading this blog and viewing the negative comments and views that have been expressed, I know why.

After aggressively seeking occupations in other fields AND the mortgage industry, I have had no luck, lost my apartment, and am now attending a community college to finish my major, but I’m afraid that I will not be able to continue my education if I can’t find a job while I’m in school.

I am disheartened and saddened by people’s attitudes towards mortgage industry workers, as a whole. I have NEVER felt anything but sympathy for people having hard times in ANY American workforce industry.

I refuse to smile at, make fun of, or trivialize other people’s misfortunes.

So I ask you, if you were a job recruiter, would you throw away my resume? If anything, people like me are good candidates for hire due to our extensive office and computer skills. Not only that, but many mortgage workers like me are willing to work long hours to get our work done in a fast-paced, demanding environment.

I’m keeping my head up and praying for all of my fellow out-of-work mortgage professionals. I’ve found that there are people who know that the vast majority of us are NOT swindlers, and I’m hoping that job recruiters will start looking past the fact that we worked for a mortgage company, and looking at the wonderful talents we have to offer employers as hard-working, honest people.